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Sipdown & Backlog
Another rainy-day tea on Saturday whilst reading. I noted that the texture was viscous and containing a thick mouthfeel. I noted that the tasting notes included: woody, earthy, mushrooms, mildew (really, past self?), and lacking butter. Maybe the butter note derived from the texture? While I thought it was a good shou, it isn’t my favorite. For the price, I could purchase Lumber Slut from W2T and have a slightly better time (no dis toward West China).
Backlog April 17, 2024
This was a relaxing cup of tea after an office day. I wanted a red tea for the caffeine, but I didn’t want anything too bold, such as an Assam blend. This is the type of red tea that one may not enjoy because it lacks the complexity and boldness one may hope to get from a tea session. Heck, I may not find myself going out of the way to buy any, but if I were to make the purchase, it’d be set aside for any of my non-tea friends who wouldn’t want a harsh cup.
From the April Tea Club
Three things I’ll note:
1. I usually don’t like white tea that much. There have only been three white teas that have blown me away (and that I think about often, but resist purchasing due to a limited self-allowance of tea spending per year. However, if the day were to arrive where I dropped the money for these, I’d buy very little tea the remainder of the year) and those include a. White2Tea’s 2019 Censers; b. White2Tea’s 2020 Night Life; and c. White2Tea’s 2019 Turtle Dove.
2. Now that we’ve established my limited tolerance for white tea, we can establish that this was not on the top list of teas I’d grab willingly. One thing I shall, and will, note is that West China’s offerings are usually top tier and unique. I’ve never had a bad experience, even here, but this wasn’t a ‘blow my mind’ session, either.
3. The tea session was average in time and length. I brewed this around 8-9 times but called the session after the last infusion. It wasn’t extraordinary by any means, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to grab anymore of this tea. I’d rate it as average.
Sipdown
I finally have a day off. My boss wanted to know what was so special to have requested it and I just kept it at, “Chilling.” None of their business, anyway. I just want a day off. ;)
First tea up – Rum Raisin. This was from the one and only West China Tea club I had a while ago (August, 2023?). Thankfully, I signed up for their club again, on the account it was a really solid venture. Now that I’ve February’s club headed my way, I’m topping off the previous teas from long ago.
Notes in no particular order: Citrus peel (IPA-esq), malty raisin, grains/oats, unripen peaches, grape skins, & not bitter, but not sweet.
I got 6-7 infusions out of the full session. I used the remaining 4g of leaf in my 60ML gaiwan.
PS. I usually don’t prefer red teas. I have to be in a very specific mood when I purchase and drink them; which is a short-lived period. I’ll dip back into a red tea now and again, but it’s usually an Assam or chai blend. However, YS and West China Tea oftentimes give me the hope that red teas are actually worth trying more often. This is a prime example of a tasty tea, which wants me to keep going back for more…
Flavors: Beer, Citrus, Grain, Grape Skin, Malt, Oats
Backlog
I over brewed the 6th infusion, but to my surprise, it was packed with flavor. It was a little bitter, but it reminded me of cooked spinach, cauliflower, and herbs. Overall, this was a pleasant session.
Flavors: Bay Leaf, Cauliflower, Herbs, Spinach
I brewed this earlier in the morning while sitting at the table, watching the rain fall. The tea went well with the weather; it was mineral heavy in aroma and flavor. The energy from the tea was subtle, but it helped get me off my feet and out into the world to run errands.
Flavors: Mineral
Gongfu!
Oops, all shou!! I noticed this morning that I’ve had three ripe pu’erh sessions in a row, so I decided to make a challenge out of it and go for a whole week of shou. So, with that in mind, I pulled out my sample of Rain Butter to start the day with! The name was definitely extra fitting since it rained quite heavily all throughout the day.
This was my first time making this tea, and I think I went into the tea session expecting the tasting notes to be quite literally inspired by the name. Though there was a buttery quality to the slick mouthfeel, I didn’t quite get any flavours that made me think of rain. That’s not to say it wasn’t a very delicious tea, though!! It was very savory. I felt with some steeps in particular that I was drinking a rather hearty broth. I’m allergic to mushrooms so that’s not a tasting note I have a solid reference point for within my “flavour library” but I’ve been told that some of my favourite ripe pu’erhs have strong notes of mushrooms and what I was picking up here was in line with the notes I get in those same teas. I loved the complexity of all the umami and maillard tastes all mingled together.
I guess I went in expecting literal rain, and what I got was a tea that matched the sort of cozy, warming foods that I drink DURING those big downpours – which was, ultimately, even better.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJOB-eOxzo/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwXIpjQjEy8
Gongfu!
Started my morning with a session of this deliciously warm and toasty oolong!! I wasn’t sure what to expect from this tea but it was so pleasantly light and nutty! Notes of softly roasted almonds and toasted grains, with a medium body and light astringency. As the session progressed more floral undertones started to emerge, which added so much more dimension to the sweetness of the nutty notes! Magnolia and other Springtime flowers. I think it caught me off guard how nuanced and delicate the whole session was despite having elements of roast/minerality, but it was exactly what I needed in the moment.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqYqTIsuXzj/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziNG0L6XDBg
Gongfu!
The smooth, dark notes of charred nuts, toasted grains, cinnamon, clove, birch bark, and mineral-rich wet stones make for a cozy way to ease into the day. As the more overtly roasted notes of this wuyi rock oolong begin to soften, they give way to a slow blossoming bouquet of dark cherry, baked apple, and red wine – though the latter tasting note is just the faintest tease in the undertones. What I most love is that, despite having flavours that skew very dark and heavy, like liquornis surprisingly soft with an almost buttery texture to the finish!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwTVEnMO3uI/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xad7-wfcYAY
Gongfu!
The dry leaf aroma of this oolong tea is so pungent and fruity smelling with thick saucy red fruit aromas that remind me of various types of chutney! I love Rougui so much, and this one is completely lovely from the first infusion with a nice deep roast that hits you in the back of the chest and complex notes of grilled cherries, baked apple, burnt pie crust, roasted chicory root, and of course cinnamon! It’s really the sweet tang of the cherry against the heavy roast and charcoal/mineral flavours that’s pulling me in though! Mmmm! Buuuttt it makes me wonder, if West China Tea put out a “Hydra Meat” tea what would that taste like!?
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcvTpcWucSc/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXzPgsoKKJA&ab_channel=EXUM
The name is very off-putting for me!
Haha, I can get that! This is from West China Tea’s description of the tea:
Horse Meat Wuyi Oolong (馬頭岩肉桂, Mǎ Tóu Yán Ròu Guì, “Horse Head Cliff Cassia”) – In the grand tradition of naming teas, especially oolongs, after bizarre or unappetizing things (see: Duck Shit), the name Horse Meat comes from an abbreviation of this tea’s full name, Mǎ Tóu Yán Ròu Guì, which means “Rou Gui from Horse Head Cliff.” Mǎ Tóu Yán Ròu Guì is a mouthful, so in Chinese it gets abbreviated to Mǎ Ròu 馬肉 (“Horse Meat”), which takes the first character of the location and the first character of the tea breed. This is because Ròu Guì 肉桂 literally translated means “Meat Osmanthus” and refers to a cinnamon-like plant called Cassia.
Gongfu!
It’s been what feels like forever since I last had a really, really good Ruby 18 session, and this one was borderline perfect. Full-bodied and velvety smooth with a really round feeling to the liquor. That signature wintergreen tasting note was so prominent and consistently carried throughout each infusion, and maybe it’s because I was enjoying this session outdoors immediately following a heavy rainfall where the air was cool, crisp, heavy with petrichor and seemingly amplifying all the surrounding scents but I found it to be especially fresh and aromatic as the tea was steeping and coming off the wet leaves. Aside from that most important tasting note, I thought the session also had an overarching sweetness with thick notes of bourbon caramel, vanilla, sweet potato, dark chocolate, and just a hint of red plum in the undertones.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBMBCCFJEan/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzvx9iSON2g
Gongfu!
I recently had a strong craving for some new Sun Moon Lake tea and I actually picked some up from a couple vendors, but this is the first I’ve steeped of those more recent tea orders and it REALLY hit the spot yesterday!! From the moment the water hit the tea leaves it was just so sweet and aromatic!! It was a lovely session filled with syrupy flavours of malty baked bread, fermented red fruits, chocolate ganache, thick golden honey and the trademark wintergreen finishing note that I think is realllllyyyy what I was seeking out way deep down when I placed this order!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZwP7Su1z9/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXoGc4C6iyc&ab_channel=JuniorMesa
Interesting! I wonder how it compares to my #1 favorite tea, “Brandy Oolong”, also a red from Sun Moon Lake area gardens, and sold by TeaLyra (dot com).
Was the wintergreen as strong as is found in Ceylon Uva Highlands? I bought some of that from Harney and found the flavour to be off-putting. I never got that mintiness from the Brandy Oolong I mentioned above, so your SML red may be totally different. Glad it was to your liking tho’! The description of your SML red sounds as if it may be one of the native Taiwanese varieties, with which I’ve got little if any experience.
Gongfu!
Stacking infusions for first tea session of the day! This golden flower tea is different from others I’ve tasted in its flavour notes, but it’s quite relaxing and smooth! While it’s a but of a lighter bodied tea overall I’m getting notes of dark buckwheat honey, toasty puffed wheat, golden apple skins, hot summer hay and just a bit of sticky rice in the finish! It reminds me a little bit of walking through a prairie farmer’s market on a sweltering summer day, or playing around hay bails as a child. Like a soft, warm feeling of hometown nostalgia. I think I’m gonna sit with this one for a while longer; it’s unique.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CYCmKbRuaqd/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFCyjCiR5Q&ab_channel=RuenBrothers
Gongfu!
Dipped into my sample of this oolong for a session every bit as delicious as it is thematically on point for the day before Halloween!! From the first step, this Wuyi rock oolong is so smooth and the liquor is surprisingly quite creamy without much astringency at all. It has the typical minerality, deep roasted flavour, and woodiness that I expect from a yancha, but it’s also super plum-heavy with a really well-balanced jammier sweetness. It’s more of a gently grilled plum note where the fruit has just slightly caramelized and is picking up a faint note of char, but where the brightness of the ripe fruit itself hasn’t been entirely lost. The undertones are floral and somewhat sultry, like catching the smell of violet or orchid scented perfume in the wind from a passerby. All around great tea – I just wish I had a little more of it. This was a perfect excuse to steep up though; it was a real treat!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzCWRwBO9jl/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLj520AaVZw
Gongfu!
Treated myself to a session of this aged beauty yesterday afternoon – it felt just Halloween inspired enough, while still being just overall solid tea. This is so smooth and clean w/ notes of golden syrup, fragrant floral plum skins, roasted walnuts, sandalwood, and the general roasted charcoal notes typical of most yancha – with maybe a smidgen of dill in the early session with more heavily stretched steep times. The liquor is actually almost creamy, and the overall cup of a great balance of deeper umami and toasty notes with a floral sweetness and freshness. It does genuinely blow my mind sometimes that, not only do I have access to amazing teas like this that are actually older than I am – but that they’re also so incredibly flavourful and nuanced! Feeling very fortunate this afternoon as I sip this beautiful oolong…
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUyCG5_toXZ/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SiPdhawhIc&ab_channel=AndyShauf-Topic
Gongfu!
In a pretty solid shou pu’erh mood lately. I’m always somewhat surprised by how bright and red-tinted the liquor of this ripe pu’erh is, especially given how absolutely intense, full-bodied, and deeply earthy the profile is. Heavy, heaaavyyyy notes of rain-soaked potting soil, garden beets caked in dirt and mud, molasses, clove, and allspice – all with an aromatic, round and mouth-coating finish of vanilla extract. So smooth, but dense and dark. With the stacked steeps this is a pretty casual and laid-back session, but still an absolutely solid one.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCMviPzJO3h/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF1TzYkCWKA&ab_channel=StolenNova
Gongfu!
Cat sitting continues with more gongfu while reading articles from the back issues of Eighty Degrees magazine – very cool magazine focused all on tea. This shou is really delicious with it’s heavy handed notes of camphorous forest undergrowth and potting soil. This is complimented by notes of spices like clove and, unsurprisingly, vanilla. The steeping aroma is intoxicating; and the whole tea session works perfectly with a handful of cherries enjoyed between steeps!
I was also a bit surprised by how light the steeped tea liquor was – very red/brown but leaning more red. Not the most opaque either, after a steep or two.
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqvO9LgMEW/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCkve8xRGaU&ab_channel=JessieReyezVEVO
First of all, don’t break off an enormous piece of the bing like i did. just use a normal-sized chunk, say about the size of a quarter, less volume than a large marshmallow, for use in your gaiwan. HOWEVER if you do accidentally start with too much, you can always dilute with a touch more hot water; the flavor is not hurt by doing this.
SECOND OF ALL this was a wonderful investment! My friend Emma and I ventured across town to have a Tea Sit at the delightful West China Tea House, where the owner served us several fine teas and regaled us with stories of his own tea journey. Quite a lovely afternoon interrupted at last by the arrival of hazardous weather conditions that drove us all indoors.
For our second tea of the Sit, we were served round after round of this incredibly deep and textured pu’er directly from a tea farmer venturing into pressing their home-grown pu’er (most pu’er comes from government owned factories!), and every teacup was a journey unto its own. The flavors waxed and waned like cycles of the moon, and taking the time to savor each slurp was simply lovely, especially with friends. Emma and I split a bing to bring home, and this morning while lounging i am enjoying my over-leaf’d tea session immensely. Once i get the ratio of tea:water perfected, this will be a daily drinker for quite a while, and i. am. pleased.
Flavors: Earth, Green, Vegetal, Wet Rocks
Preparation
I did two sessions with this particular tea.
The following info is from brewing it in a 110ml porcelain gaiwan. I also brewed this in a chaozhou clay teapot (see link below for that information)
Steeping Information:
*Teaware: Gaiwan 110ml
*Water Amount: ~ 100ml
*Tea Amount: 5.19
*Brewing Temperatures: 198, 200-206
*Time (seconds): 10, 20, 30, 48
*High notes of the aroma: Sweet, fruity, sugary
*Low notes of the aroma: Cooked stone fruit, smoke, roasted
*Broth: Sweet, viscous, with notes of honey & fruit
Overall, this is a really good tea with nice fruity, honey flavors. It starts off well with short steeps at higher temps. I tend to like my teas a little on the stronger side, but WCT’s recommendations are pretty spot on with the tea, although I did drop the water temperature slightly starting at #3, because I was noticing a bitterness not present in the first two.
It started diminishing around 4-5 steeps, which isn’t too bad.
This tea is similar to other honey orchids with a slight difference in viscosity and flavors. Most people might not notice. It’s not as sweet as other honey orchids I’ve tasted, but plenty sweet enough
More details & photos at my teablog: https://jadeoolong.blogspot.com/2021/05/tea-tasting-gold-thread-honey-orchid.html
Preparation
Gongfu…
I was looking for “C Teas” for the alphabet challenge a few days ago, and I noticed that I hadn’t written a tasting note for this one. It stood out because I had a very memorable session with this tea over my holiday break. So… capturing a tasting note now!
(Better late than never – and thankfully I wrote out good notes on IG for it.)
This Phoenix Oolong has a lot of interesting layers of flavour to peel back; starting with a toasty sesame and sushi rice flavour. Those notes are followed by a slightly floral note of just over ripe pineapple, grilled nori, and just a hint of minerality. It’s just a bit astringent and very calming overall despite the complexity of the intermingled flavours. I was skeptical when I read WCT’s tasting notes, but having now sipped through a session I definitely understand where they’re coming from!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJbxfNHgccC/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAQB2Lbnaww&ab_channel=NuhaRubyRa
Now that I’m posting tea on Insta regularly, I forget to write the corresponding Steepster notes constantly… (facepalm)
Cool song! That’s some pretty fresh music while having a lot of interesting layers of influences.
@Cameron – Usually cross posting on IG helps me remember to write the tasting note and/or add it to the physical list I keep at home with what I’ve drank in a day. Sometimes teas sit on the list for a while before I get to the notes, but I very rarely forget a tea – I’m just glad this one was such a distinct session that I was able to catch the miss.
@Togo – Right!? I admit I haven’t listened to much by the artist, but I really like this one – it’s so distinct.
Gongfu!
This black tea is so sweet and syrupy with notes of malty fresh baked raisin bread, dark honey, a little bit of molasses, subtle woody undertones and a bit of chocolate liqueur in the finish. Really satisfying, and I love the lingering bit of plum-y stonefruit sweetness that clings to the palate after each sip!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPDKNmuX-I/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AVwsth4urg
Gongfu!
Had a really nice early morning session with this tea on Wednesday. It’s such a warm and cozy tea! Definitely raisin-y as the name would imply, but the thick syrupy liquor also has such a comforting profile of malt and fresh golden bread – straight out of the oven!! This combination of tasting notes, alongside a subtle red fruit undertone and hints of spice, really make me think of freshly baked hot cross buns or maybe even cinnamon raisin bread, though less sweet. It’s a beauty of a tea…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcAydVXunJo/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-K0-EdDpPc&ab_channel=MakaylaSalena
Gongfu!
I got a new gaiwan as a birthday present to myself!! The colours and textures in this gaiwan are frankly insane – it’s truly a piece of art! I definitely used this past birthday as an excuse to order a lot of tea and teaware I’d been eyeing up – but I could afford it and I was feeling sad about not being able to do anything for my birthday because of the pandemic, so the retail therapy helped…
This is the tea that I broke the gaiwan in with and it was lovely. It’s so syrupy in mouthfeel and it tastes heavily of brandied fruits, plummy stonefruit, red currant and raisins with these taunting hints of chocolate, leather, and peanut brittle in the undertones!! Just an exciting and sweet explosion of flavours – a really great way to spend the afternoon. I think I got around six infusions out of it, which I thought was pretty good for a black tea. I see the name inspiration as well – definitely makes sense with those boozier fruity notes.
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMXzWOBASB2/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJr40dkVMs&abchannel=mariolinan
